Lincoln County's goal in the final minutes ends East's season

East Jessamine’s girls’ soccer season came to an end Thursday night in a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Lincoln County in the region semifinal.

The Lady Jags led for more than 50 minutes of the match after senior Devon Burnside gave them a 1-0 lead five and a half minutes into the game. Burnside got free and beat the keeper one-on-one in the box.
East had its chances to extend the lead on several occasions but could not get another goal, either pushing the ball too far or too high.

Lincoln’s first real chance to tie the game came with 9:20 remaining in the first half when a shot glanced off the left post.

The Lady Pats were able to pick up their intensity in the second half and began to get more frequent looks at the goal. After missing a couple shots 10 minutes into the second half, Lincoln put together another run around the 23-minute mark. East thought it had smothered another threat, but the official called a foul in the box and awarded Lincoln a penalty kick.

East goalkeeper Heather Welch guessed left and was correct diving for the ball that just cleared her extended arms to tie the match 1-1 with 23 minutes remaining.

Time ticked down to under five minutes with no change in the score. Burnside got off two good looks at the goal, but both sailed high over the crossbar. Lincoln was able to shift the momentum and catch a break at the other end. The Lady Pats took a shot from the left side, aiming at the right post. The shot stayed inside the post enough to give Lincoln County a 2-1 lead with 3:36 remaining in regulation.

East could not get a game-tying goal in time.

The Lady Jags finished the year with a record of 14-10-1 overall. They snapped a three-year skid in district play and advanced to the district championship for the first time since 2006.

Burnside ends the season with a team-high 30 goals and scored 64 in her career at East.

Makenzie Danaher led the team in assists with nine; she had 17 for her career.